1. The Field of the Present Disclosure
This present disclosure relates generally to the field of landscaping spreaders used for spreading seeding, fertilizers or other desired materials onto a grass turf.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, when material is dropped on grass turf from a machine like a fertilizer spreader, the fertilizer tends to disappear into the grass without leaving a visible trace on the turf to help an operator determine which areas have already been covered by the dropped material.
Often, fertilizer or other material is applied to the grass turf after the grass has been cut, which can leave many wheel tracks from both a mower and the spreader on the grass surface, making it very difficult, if not impossible, for the operator to distinguish which wheel tracks are from the mower and which marks are from the spreader.
This confusion over wheel tracks can lead to some areas of the turf being applied with too much fertilizer and other areas being completely missed. This can result in a turf that has stripes or inconsistencies in texture and color, depending on which areas were fertilized and which areas were not.
The problem is providing consistent and even coverage of spreading material, particularly while using a spreader, is not unique for fertilizer application, but is also needed for applications for weed and bug control, etc.
Equipment for marking lawns or turf for sporting events has been around for a long time. This equipment has used paint, lime, liquid chalk, etc. for marking borders or boundaries. These machines have marked the field typically with a quasi-permanent marker or line so that the lines remain visible during the complete sporting event or for multiple events. However, this type of marking would not be suitable for lawn marking, where fertilizer has been applied because of the quasi-permanent nature of the marking. This quasi-permanent marking would detract immensely from the beauty and aesthetics of the lawn or turf.
In order to overcome these problems, the disclosed temporary marking system can deposit or mark the surface of a grass turf or lawn, such that the mark gives a visual cue to the operator to be able to identify where material has already been applied. The disclosed marker or visual cue can be temporary, so that the marker would not be visible after a few short minutes, but be visible long enough to deposit the fertilizer or other desired material.
The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the present disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out herein.